ONDI TIMONER and ROBERT REDFORD.
SUNDANCE INSTITUTE DIRECTORS LAB, UTAH. JUNE 2010.
PHOTO COURTESY/INTERLOPER FILMS
more info on this conference and a brief up-date on WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – to post shortly in artlovers’ MOVIE REVIEW SECTION !!
in the meantime, check this out !!
Ondi’s team just sent us a great link to a video-interview with Ondi – put out by the AMBULANTE FILM FESTIVAL , where WE LIVE IN PUBLIC recently enjoyed a special presence. The festival, in Mexico was founded by actors GAEL GARCIA BERNAL and DIEGO LUNA . . .
read more: 4th AMBULANTE FILM FESTIVAL/LA TIMES !!
there’s one priceless quote in that LA TIMES link:
“the actors, and the director of the festival, ELENA FORTES, said they wanted to challenge the assumption that documentaries are boring” !!
yo, everyone knows – DOCS RULE !!
here’s the link to the interview: ONDI TIMONER on WE LIVE IN PUBLIC/AMBULANTE FILM FESTIVAL !!
what’s so great about the clip, is Ondi relating how our Pseudo / JOSH HARRIS dot.com millions NYC-based downtown Millennium Artist Party – QUIET – started it all off !!
plus the clip actually has a really cool sound track, and is edited really sweetly.
at the very beginning – the ‘underground’ artist bunker based on Japanese pod hotels and archival footage of Nazi concentration camp prisoners stacked one on top of the other – goes up. it will house over 100+ in-house production crew and artist guests – as well as quite a few live wires. and not, just as in characters. literally, each bunker was wired for 24/7 surveillance and had its own small screen for choosing among several live action channels of the multi-faceted event.
JEFF GOMPERTZ and JOSH HARRIS.
Jeff built the bunker pod hotel – with a lot of input from Josh.
he had to put it up pretty damn fast – like in one week, two weeks – tops.
though it’s come down through legend and the media – as being described as an “underground bunker hotel” – though it was a truly a hotel, underground is used in the rebel sense – it was fabricated to look like an underground bunker, but it was actually installed on the 2nd or 3rd floor of an old manufacturing loft building on Lower Broadway near Chambers St. what was really underground – was the art scene that Josh tapped to make it all happen – a raw frontier downtown art scene – where the only things you had to have – were an ability to capture Josh’s A.D.D. T.V. baby – attention span – and, not, that’s NOT !! be affiliated with an established gallery. from there on in – it was one big wide-open and really wild scene. talk about 24/7 artist par-tay !!
of course any hotel, downtown or not – underground bunker or not – had to come up with some sort of eating option – as in FOOD !!
the dining room at QUIET serviced the 100+ artist residents and guests – and was most def not – bunker – it was 4 star. for real. with its own 4 star Asian chef and 4 star meals. 3 meals a day. and completely FREE. the seating arrangements could get a little intense – but let’s not go there. it was wired too.
the bubble wrap interior and the creative dining menu, and even some over-the-top table-top performances were the brain child of OWEN BUSH. the bubble dining room, and small custom kitchen – were actually built in the adjoining building. a one or two story storefront that used to be a famous photographer’s studio at the time of the civil war. After QUIET it morphed into the LEO KOENIG gallery and CANADA was downstairs. there was a lot of rivalry.
actually rivalry ruled. everywhere, and all the time. but particularly between these two after-the-shock of QUIET gallery venues. Leo used to block off the entrance to the stairway leading to CANADA at his openings – with a big piece of wooden board – so CANADA couldn’t ride on his coattails !!
and, it’s really true – what Ondi says – that everybody there – would have opted to stay there forever, if they could have. it wasn’t so much the community – as the intense anti-community !! – the rush of the 24/7 rivalry and jousts to stay in Josh’s favor, in the spotlight and in the dough !! big time. big time money. big time rivals. kept you in high-gear production mode double-time. no fake wannabes there, you could get shot – it was that intense. plus like Ondi says – free meals 3 times a day. free pod hotel lodging, and a huge dot.com budget. not to mention – the never-ending open bar driven parties.
speaking of which – all you new generation VAMPIRE fans.
nobody’s saying this, in the mainstream media press or in the various festival interviews – but it’s true.
the downtown VAMPIRES of New York City came out of the shadows of their daytime hiding jobs – to run a lot of the QUIET parties. daytime didn’t exist at QUIET. It was nighttime, party time all the time.They even had their own huge super intense VAMPIRE NEW YEAR 2000 PARTY, on the night before New Year’s Eve proper !! JUDGECAL, aka CAL – the leader of the pack – worked for Josh at Pseudo and also ran the war video game installation on the (real) underground basement floor, right next to Alfredo’s shooting gallery, and the now infamous interrogation room !! At some of the real early parties – you could even score your very own custom-made pop-on fangs !! on the spot. no kidding. I know because – I was there. I witnessed it first-hand. and, no I personally – didn’t get pop-on fangs. but I was really and truly – honored, mke that fascinated – that Cal and the Vampires chose my quilt installation space – also adjacent to the shooting (as in guns) gallery in the real basement – for their wild and ritualistic party-hearty pre-NEW YEAR 2000 all night bash !! they were not evil, they were just intense. much very wired into the cosmic forces and rhythms of the natural primordial world. celebrating the Millennium – was a natural. after awhile there was no day and there was no night at QUIET, at some point it all meshed. there were no windows. there was no sunlight. and if you were working behind the scenes for Josh – you were working 24/7. you just crashed – in that damn pod hotel – until it became an orgy – but like Ondi says, “that’s a narrative” for another time. another person. put it this way, I dug the Vampires over the quasi-porn stars.
that was the thing about Quiet – it had this amazing range. from day to night, vampires to college kids proposing Zen gardens on the rooftops. guns to quilts. Josh would arrange to have anybody who pretty much made a contribution to the creative energy – ‘financed’ and installed – with the one hand, while he deliberately pushed buttons and sabotaged others – with the other. the 360 degree world of human nature – from creative genius to puppet master. dot.com CEO to Luvvy. in other words: the works. looking both backwards and forwards. making things and tearing them down. the juice, the in-the-moment – was unbelievable.
. . . and, I do remember when Ondi got hired !! like she says here, in this Ambulante clip – “so, I go hired for this job” – to film QUIET 24/7 for the live action feeds – with such matter-of-fact countenance – yet with such look-back-in amazement realization. She was just, what 31 ? when she approached Josh for work. Josh liked the rough cuts of ‘DIG!’ that she had to show him !! and gave her the job. that’s the way it worked. and p.s. she had a large film crew with her 24/7.
see: ONDI TIMONER/WIKIPEDIA !!
what can I say. the only words – that every struggling young artist who hits the Big Apple wants to hear, and what ultimately makes QUIET and WE LIVE IN PUBLIC such a rush: was that yes !! at QUIET and in WE LIVE IN PUBLIC – indie talent could prevail. raw talent could win. and raw talent could rule.
just to make sure you got the picture right: make that . . . nothing-to-lose talent. end-of-the-world and beginning of the Millennium talent. fulcrum and vortex of the very beginning birth of the internet – talent. 100% straight up – Indie talent. rock bottom NYC underground talent. raw and rough cut. burning the night, losing the day – and owning the city. for 2 weeks. at the rock bottom day zero crossroads of this crazy millennium century. and its only, what – one decade later.
under-written and funded by an eccentric dot.com visionary – only 10 years ago – a bunch of ground zero NYC artists and tech nerds – partied like it was the end of the world – under the no-holds-barred yin yang inspired – black and red PSEUDO logo.
the FEDS, the suits, they even sent in FEMA !! the NYPD and the NYFD thought we were a suicide cult !! or at the very least – ya’ll – pure anarchy in the heart of the country’s biggest cost of us, and they shut us down. the dot.com bubble burst, and Pseudo went belly-up.
Flash forward . . . just 10 puny years later.
and it’s starting to feel like the end of the world. except it’s – corporate anarchy that rules.
funny how – instead of a rogue artist group under a stark black and red Pseudo logo . . . now it’s the innocent green and yellow flower of the BP suits – that captivates the imagination, and rules the waves with their 24/7 live action ocean floor feed. and you thought you’d never live to see a bubble – you’d actually want to see busted. and you thought Pseudo – meant deceptive. I’m thinking just 10 years later – the gulf oil spill is only gonna make a bunch of outsider artists and nerdier than nerd computer geeks – look even more – Pseudo. out of this world. and right on message.
and, as the Millennium progresses – with each succeeding interview – Ondi seems even more amazed that she was there to “catch it”.
see: PSEUDO/Wikipedia !!
~ONDI TIMONER & WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | July 8th, 2010, 4:40pm
IMAGE COURTESY/THE STREETFASHION+5XPRO
. . . we always knew our friends at TEKSERVE were great patrons of the arts, but wow – their give-away reusable canvas bag – is making international fashion headlines !!
thanks Kate – for the heads up !!
see: thestreetfashion+5XPRO/MARTEDI 29 GIUGNO 2010 !!
~TEKSERVE/INTERNATIONAL FASHION HIT !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 30th, 2010, 1:54pm
was I surprised TAYLOR McKIMENS did such a great job of ‘installing’ Kathy’s inaugural show ? no way.
and in fact I had seen a ‘mini’ version of his new painting !! – in this little mini book he gave me last Spring.
this is the book laid flat – back cover & front cover.
it’s all of 4 sheets stapled together – with 2 staples !! – in the center. the book laid flat is 4-1/4 x 2-3/4 in. !!
(closed it’s 2 x 2-3/4 in. !!)
check out Taylor’s trademark – fly !! – at the top right hand corner.
the large painting in the ‘NOT QUITE OPEN FOR BUSINESS’ show – is the centerfold !!
here’s another ‘spread sheet’ – is it that supposed to be Taylor – on the right ?
Taylor comes from the deep South West !!
for more, check out his: website !!
more golden oldies !!
TAYLOR McKIMENS IN HIS BROOKLYN STUDIO. JUNE 2007.
MISAKI KAWAI, in pal TAYLOR McKIMENS’ STUDIO, BROOKLYN. JUNE 2007.
PHOTOS COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~TAYLOR McKIMENS/mini me !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 30th, 2010, 11:30am
IMAGE COURTESY: MISAKI KAWAI STUDIO
it was fun to see Misaki’s work in the THE HOLE inaugural show – esp because Kathy Grayson’s curatorial sensibilities tend to tilt to the very intense, and even grotesque !! and wow – guys it’s summertime !! doesn’t that count for anything – !!
talking about Misaki – her studio has just put a new limited edition handmade zine – ‘Secret Scrap’ !! In a small of edition of just 50, it is compiled from her drawings and “handmade scrap collage” !! it’s 24 pages, 4-1/2 x 6 in. produced in color ink jet and rope bound for $20 !!
you can see more about it on her website: MISAKI KAWAI/SECRET SCRAP !!
in fact her website is a nice summertime cruise: MISAKI KAWAI !!
SECRET SCRAP COVER/IMAGE COURTESY: MISAKI KAWAI STUDIO.
FLASH – FROM – THE PAST !! talk about GOLDEN OLDIES !!
here’s a couple of early pix of MISAKI – in HER BROOKLYN STUDIO, taken JUNE 2007 !!
PHOTOS COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~MISAKI KAWAI/SECRET SCRAP !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 30th, 2010, 10:43am
yes, that HOLE OPENING – to-nite – is the KATHY GRAYSON & PALS – inaugural opening !!
104 GREENE ST bet PRINCE & SPRING in SOHO . . . SAT JUNE 26, 2010 / 6-9 !!
and yep, a lot of people are calling the title of the gallery – more than – a slight tad unfortunate !!
kind of in that sad AUREL SCHMIDT take – when she’s in that desperately seeking attention mode . . . know what I mean ??
. . . and, if you think the title is a bad omen of things to come – and why are those smart ass girls so defensive – when we know they are bad ass to the core – check out the first image on their press release/website. LOL. well, wow – thank god they changed that (previously posted) sleazy one. the new one is actually way better. well but wait. maybe it does come round – as the images do seem to revolve. you’ll know it – when you see it – beer froth (??) on a butt naked Barbie doll-type butt on the (clean) beach with a Freudian beer bottle – is the best way to put it. art from behind, get it ??
catch: ART FROM BEHIND !!
& catch: the first 2 press releases on the gallery’s minimalist, way cool website !!
actually – the ‘button’ logo reminds us of PATRICK GRIFFIN’S work – and if he’s on the agenda – then – things are looking up. . . it’s also maybe the best way to say HOLE GALLERY, which is, by not !! the fact that this first – ‘NOT QUITE OPEN FOR BUSINESS’ – exhibit, a group show of “unfinished art, unfinished poems and unfinished symphonies” – has been handed over to TAYLOR McKIMENS to pull off !! – and which promises over 20 local artists !! just might make it – a reason to celebrate summer in the hot grimy gritty city – to-nite !! one thing’s for sure – everybody is gonna be watching, to see – if – they can pull it off.
but, more to the point – I wonder if they’re gonna be able to pull off – some booze ?? and I don’t mean beer. I guess frozen Margaritas – in plastic cups – might be asking for too much ??!!
Rob Pruitt – where are ya – when we need ya most ?
UP-DATE: SUNDAY JUNE 27, 2010 – 10:30 AM
MY BAD !! & PIX FROM THE OPENING – WHICH WAS DRY, AND HOT – BUT FUN ANYWAY, IN A DARK KIND OF WAY. . .
my bad !!
AUREL SCHMIDT finally gets – raw – right !! and we all know – that is the true meaning of: hole !!
oh you bad girrrls !! when I got home – there was big doc on COURTNEY LOVE playing out on MTV !!
self portrait by AUREL SCHMIDT, ‘For Lucien’, 2010. pencil and colored pencil on paper. 7 x 10 in.
what helped – was that she went against grain, keeping the image small – in a room full of ego-sized pieces . . as well, the perspective, duh, and color aspects – transcended any easy sleaze write-off. even from moi.
former DEITCH DIRECTOR & now: THE HOLE DEAL – in her own right – super curator of the dark, she hopes (!!) – KATHY GRAYSON and the show’s design heart – TAYLOR McKIMENS !!
my bad, again. Taylor did not organize the show – it’s all Kathy curated thru and thru – and pretty predictable as such, but that’s ok – if it means 20 more talent plus artists – get their work shown . . . the big apple is big enough. Taylor designed and produced the installation !! a big, can we say: BOBO !! inspired – riff on ‘construction’ materials left lying around after the fact !! great break-up of the space !! great off-key hues. pretty funny. well actually, pretty comic !! that pale green plank of wood behind Aurel’s drawing above – completely f-a-u-x !! – and, Taylor McKimens produced !!
and, just what the doc called for – cause otherwise, except for this high ceiling-ed going nowhere alcove in the very front, the exhibition space proper – was pretty much – just a hole in the wall – with low ceilings and narrow at that that. with ugly exposed brick walls. hey, space is space – eat your heart out !!
yep – that’s a STEVE POWERS enamel on aluminum sign – 20 x 8 ft.
it says: ‘If You Were Here I’d Be Home Now’ !!
there was no way to step back and get a full shot. in fact – hooray for sites that can’t be photographed – you couch potato – you’ve got to get off your butt – and get there to see it for yourself. its gorgeous . . .
guess that wall – might function as a kind of a ‘guest’ alcove for large, narrow pieces ?
then the show proper started – with a sweet note, and probably thanks to Taylor – MISAKI KAWAI, ‘White Fluffy’, 2008. acrylic on canvas . 202 x 20 in.
(sorry guys – there were no prices on the public / price list ??)
TAYLOR McKIMENS. ok I bet you finally start to hear a lot about Taylor, aside from forever being beamed up – outta these pages – with this large painting. it’s found pretty much at the end of the somewhat winding exhibit, and shows that a genius piece can be exhibited in what look looks like a former office warren with low ceilings and still soar. white box gallery or not . . . I’m still calling Taylor the Jackson Pollock of his generation. period. drips. get it ?
yep, she’s blowing bubbles – amidst the drips !!
Taylor’s pal – Philly-based MATT LEINES – had a nice wall too – his work looked great splayed out on the faux McKIMENS pegboard !!
CANADA’S MICHAEL WILLIAMS had a show stopping piece – as well.
MICHAEL WILLIAMS, ‘Unfinished Face’, 2010. oil on unprimed canvas. 52 x 68 in.
on the right – ANDREW JEFFREY WRIGHT had a very cool – piece in the show too.
with him MARIA and NOAH LYON. if you are in STOCKHOLM – you can catch the last week of Noah’s show at STENE PROJECTS !! and/or you catch a nice head trip by hitting his website: RETARD RIOT !!
ANDREW JEFFREY WRIGHT , ‘Art Blog’ !!
you gotta love it. or what !!
even SWEENEY had a great piece in the show – loved that it was – star shaped portrait !!
detail, SPENCER SWEENEY. ‘Yet To Be Titled’. 2010. mixed media on canvas.
5 pointed star at 47 x 47 in.
IO. and yes, she had work in the show too.
raw looking photographs.
what would a KATHY GRAYSON show – be – without ROSSON CROW !!
with her on the left: L.A. dealer HONOR FRASER.
up close and beautiful: HONOR FRASER and ROSSON CROW.
there were several large ROSSON CROW paintings in the show – this was my fave.
and in that back room alleyway – alongside the ROSSON CROW and TAYLOR McKIMENS canvases – guess who ??
BARRY McGEE – a mechanized ‘tagger’ !!
albeit a slight bit – rickety – but a true beaut . . . no doubt about it.
maybe you could have him work on it a few more hours – make it slightly more hardy.
my bad !! – it’s gets the last word – on THE HOLE – from us !!
ALL PHOTOS – COPYRIGHT: NANCY SMITH
~THE HOLE INAUGURAL SHOW OPENS/TO-NITE & MY BAD !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 26th, 2010, 1:12pm
AMY GARTRELL, and best bud – PATTERSON BECKWITH, arrive at the opening of Amy’s new show, ‘Whatever and Ever’ at DANIEL REICH. Sat, May 22, 2010. the show runs thru June 26, 2010
Amy’s show just got a sweet review in the NEW YORK TIMES !!
see: AMY GATRELL/KAREN ROSENBERG/THE NEW YORK TIMES/JUNE 18, 2010 !!
NOTE: THE SHOW JUST GOT EXTENDED – THRU JULY 17 !!
AMY greets long time pal – SPENCER SWEENEY, at the opening.
SPENCER SWEENEY .. . said to have done very well at BASEL – with big-time names like PETER BRANT and VAL KILMER – thrown into the mix !!
one of Amy’s flower photo collages, 2009. 25.5 x 19 in. ($5,000).
Amy told me – she puts the actual objects onto the scanner bed – to get the effects she is looking for – a kind of hyper realism – that actually goes very romantic.
AMY GARTRELL, ‘Couple’, 2010. ink on paper.
8.25 x 8.75 in. ($2,000).
detail, AMY GARTRELL, ‘Couple’.
one of the more unusual pieces is a kind of modernist dollhouse – that riffs off the modernist designs Amy has painted directly onto the gallery walls. it comes on a very stylized pedestal !!
AMY GARTRELL, ‘Compartmentalization is Cool’, 2010. Glazed ceramics, model chair, MDF, acrylic.
54 x 18 x 18 in. ($8,000).
on the right, gallerist DANIEL REICH basking in the cool summer eve of last month’s so reasonable weather !!
with him, artist/photog GRANT WORTH.
CYRUS has brought along his pet plant !! it’s a violet – and when he is not out and about – he hangs it from a hook in his Brooklyn garden !!
POSTED BY NANCY SMITH – JUNE 22, 2010 8:55 AM
PHOTOS: COPYRIGHT NANCY SMITH
~AMY GARTRELL/LAST WEEK . . |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 22nd, 2010, 8:34am
well, there’s fame – and then, there’s F-A-M-E !!
NICK ANDERSON/6-17-10/HOUSTON CHRONICLE CARTOON – ON NEW YORK POST’S – PAGE SIX – JUNE 18, 2010
SHEPARD FAIREY, ‘JEAN MICHEL BASQUIAT’, the poster image for Shepard Fairey’s recently closed show at DEITCH PROJECTS, titled ‘MAYDAY’.
HOPE to S.O.S. – nice symmetry or what ?
POSTED BY NANCY SMITH – JUNE 22, 2010 8:15 AM
PHOTOS: COPYRIGHT NANCY SMITH
~SHEPARD FAIREY: FULL CIRCLE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 22nd, 2010, 8:15am
HALF FAME !! HAVE FAME !! AIN’T FAME – A BITCH ??!!
more pix . . . from the HALF GALLERY – ‘A WAYS A WAY’ opening . . . curated by MEREDITH DARROW and DEVENDRA BANHART. LOWER EAST SIDE, NYC. JUNE 8, 2010.
a small painting by KEEGAN McHARGUE. ‘Untitled’, 2007.
acrylic on canvas, 36 x 26 in. ($6,000.)
yes. that’s Half Gallery co-owner, and BRAVO game show ‘judge’ – BILL POWERS on the left.
the show featured an arrangement of new, and curious !! DEVENDRA BANHART works on paper . . . they were small, in the range of 12 x 9 in. , and very intense. eyeballs – that could almost be taken for, well – bullet holes. very different from the works of his, we have seen in the past, which were mostly spidery line and dot and dash drawings. and usually incorporating words – and done only in black ink. these were in color and had full color spectrum-inducing backgrounds. gouache and pencil on paper. the price range ? approx $1,800. not bad, at all.
my advice, scoop one up – before they blink !!
next to Devendra’s work – was another series of attention-grabbing – graphic pencil and gouache drawings by ADAM TULLIE. gorgeous, and mysterious !!, on their own terms – they made me immediately consider just how bizarre and unpredictable a turn – Devendra had taken. the works, again seemed as priced as close to the bone as one could get – $1,200 – and still be (almost) fair to the artist. it’s definitely a buyer’s market. I mean these are unique and very complicated pieces – and very complex ones at that – not prints. a decade ago, these would be print (multiple edition) prices !!
the artist behind those very intense drawings, was at the opening – ADAM TULLIE. He had just come in from Los Angeles, where, funny great fact – he is a roommate of Devendra’s !! guess that makes him, most enviably – just one degree of separation from the flame of fame – in what most certainly must be the very epicenter of cool and creativity in good ole San Francisco.
outside, artnet scribe CHARLIE FINCH was basking in the fame of local pundit glory !!
with him is KATE CERIGO, whom he has known ever since she was a tiny tot – running around many a downtown opening in the 80’s – including those of BASQUIAT and HARING – a true downtown, Rivington and the Bowery, Lower East Side storefront artist-bred kid !!
p.s. people keep asking Kate about her necklace !!
it’s a gold-plated punched hole template – a riff off those plastic canvas and yarn projects of camp days past – that comes in a kind of new age kit with a needle and some yarn, and you embroider your own design !! (yeah, I did Kate’s – well we collaborated – she put in some stitches too, how fun !!)
check it out – its put out by: return to me !!
then Charlie took me and Kate over to his favorite nite-time after-opening hang out – the BABY GRAND – !! – 161 Lafayette corner of Grand St. (duh !!) which just happens to be one tiny sweet slice of a Karaoke !! bar !! and, who knew – a star is born !!
Elvis in the house !! CHARLIE FINCH – warbles righteous !!
I guess – a finch is a finch is a finch !!
POSTED BY NANCY SMITH – SAT JUNE, 19, 2010 9:27 AM
ALL PHOTOS: COPYRIGHT NANCY SMITH
~HALF FAME !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 19th, 2010, 10:26am
BILL POWERS and MEREDITH DARROW, at the HALF GALLERY, NYC. JUNE 8, 2010
PHOTO BY NANCY SMITH
BILL POWERS, with independent curator MEREDITH DARROW, at the opening of ‘A WAYS A WAY’ a small but way totally intense show, curated by MEREDITH DARROW and DEVENDRA BANHART !!
the show opened last night, June 8, 2010 at the HALF GALLERY, of which Bill is a co-owner, 208 FORSYTH ST. on the Lower East Side – just south of Houston.
the show featured strong and, I suppose you could say – elegant – but very visual – work by 8 artists – more pix from the opening coming up – soon !!
in the meantime, you can check out: HALF GALLERY !!
(and, no Devendra wasn’t there – he is on tour !!)
BILL POWERS looks to be one cool dude – and let’s hope so for his sake – as the NYC art world – or so they say !! looks to take its place of pride besides other talent search shows, cooks ? models ? housewives ? Jersey boys ? on the BRAVO Channel – with its debut broadcast tonight – WED JUNE 9, at 10PM/9PMCentral !!
first off I have to tell ya – and Kate will attest – I am a huge huge fan of the HOUSEWIVES – all of them !! meaning ORANGE COUNTY, NEW YORK CITY and NEW JERSEY !! and yes, I too marvel – at what comes out of KELLY BENSIMON’S mouth !! but hey, its obviously – give me beauty over content – rules – or I’d be on it – instead of my bit turn in WE LIVE IN PUBLIC !! !! and I love love the JERSEY SHORE !! but I do hate all those top talent model / fashion designer / cook shows.
from the advance clips – slipped in while TERESA GIUDICE buys her darling little GIA, who just turned 9 – a tot-sized ATV – and treats her and her pint-sized pals to an all-pink spa birthday party !! (hey and I like Gia – she’s cute, and funny. and she’s pretty real, till her mom gives her the shuush signal !! – for a pint-sized reality star. and what about that NEW JERSEY accent – you go girl – keep it !!) – while TERESA and husband JOE are being outed in the press for their $11 MILLION BANKRUPTCY FILING !! – tell me about it, Joe.
. . . “WORK OF ART” – executive produced by SARAH JESSICA PARKER – looking to being called a loser twice-over this season – promises to be, not just lame, but seriously wannabe – esp in the ‘art’ talent department. and JERRY SALTZ – never the rolling stone last word on the art scene – he likes to think he is – esp among anyone I know – oh my god – a turn on national T.V. might just close him down, and hopefully not the whole NYC art scene with him. memo to Jerry – a star turn on Bravo T.V. – does not a star is born ? – make !!
ok ok – I am gonna watch it – and if I’ve been unjustifiably unkind – I’ll own up !! but hands down I bet – Bill Powers is gonna be the only – cool kid on the block.
from the left: JEANNE GREENBERG (HEIRESS/GALLERIST), JERRY SALTZ (art critic/NEW YORK MAG), the generic hostess, BILL POWERS (HALF GALLERY CO-OWNER), and SIMON de PURY (founder of the auction house that bears his name).
see: BRAVO T.V. !!
POSTED BY NANCY SMITH – WED JUNE 9, 2010 4:37 PM
UP-DATE: WED JUNE 9, 2010 10:06 PM
look like they’ve been bumped 1 hr. up, or is that back ?
. . . according to most the current schedule on BRAVOTV – the debut hour of ‘WORK OF ART: THE NEXT GREAT ARTIST’ is on at 11 PM.
UP-DATE: WED JUNE 9, 2010 12:02 AM
well. it wasn’t that bad, or as bad as I thought, it would be. Jerry actually handles himself pretty well, though he usually isn’t one for “skills” – and this was one very skill-based test. a portrait. abstraction and conceptualism did not rule. He had the best line – “I think you are being a little defensive.” !! BILL POWERS had the greatest suit on. everyone seemed a little formal – the first time through the gate. put it this way – no one. not a one, cracked a joke or a smile. I guess its the Trump factor. Sarah Jessica Parker – the most pro – on-a-stage – came across the most self-conscious, funny right. ok and sorry for the generic host bit, CHINA CHOW. though truthfully she didn’t have much to say. (and I kept thinking about those after-parties, HARING and BASQUIAT, SCHNABEL and SALLE – at MR CHOW’S back in the early 80s !! flashbacks that cast a harsh light on these Newest Nextest Greatest proceedings. let’s not even go there. SIMON de PURY was helped by his accent – in his TOM GUNN role. He did in fact make some pretty down-to-earth assessments. Him and that great striped, multi-hued pin-striped wallpaper. JEANNE GREENBERG came down right on the side of trendy.
In what looks like they are taking a cue from AMERICAN IDOL – the talent seems to be going to judged by ability to genre. would I watch it again ? – maybe just to see how genre splitting and obvious – the next task will be. the winner was too much the cute kid for me. I like the the big round guy in the blue shirt the best. no disrespect – am I allowed to say that. I forget his name – he did the portrait of the clown guy – I liked how he photo-shopped his realist portrait – with beat-up-ness, bruises and spelled out ‘kitten’ on his subject’s fingers, but mostly, truthfully, I just liked his manner and what he said – he was a nice ‘big easy’ for a change. the girls were too diva and mostly reminded me of the fashion runway shows with Heidi.
the best part of the night ? the DREW BARRYMORE ‘covergirl’ commercial on the TOP CHEF finale !! caught while waiting for ‘NEXT GREAT ARTIST’ to spool. BRAVO is actually a great place to catch the hottest trends. their ads are looking more and more web-based everyday.
actually the key to the show’s ultimate irrelevancy has to be that unfortunate and played-out – turquoise – of the show’s logo – it shoulda been – a deep bright red !!
and forget Sarah Jessica Parker or even that hint of the up-coming mystery guest, ANDRE
SERRANO. I’d like to see Banksy come on and demolish the proceedings. maybe with RUSSELL BRAND in tow !! nope. the show just ain’t top talent, I’ll stick with the housewives, thank you. and the movies.
~BILL POWERS !! BRAVO !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 9th, 2010, 4:34pm
DARLA ROSE – RENEGADE CRAFT FAIR – BROOKLYN, NY – JUNE 5, 2010
PHOTOS: NANCY SMITH
DARLA ROSE is a friend of Kate’s – they both graduated a few summers ago from the Graphic Design/BFA Program at S.V.A. – turns out DARLA is also a musician, singer, and songwriter !!
so – here’s a sweet respite – from a gloomy rainy day – in NYC !!
watch: DARLA ROSE/NUMBER 1/YouTube !!
beautiful, or what !!
here’s Darla’s MySpace page – for more !! !!
like many young New Yorkers, Darla has an interesting background – her dad is GLEN BURTNIK – who played with STYX – in the early days and who has gone on to do some really interesting things.
see: GLEN BURTNIK/WIKIPEDIA !!
check out this a-m-a-z-i-n-g clip !!
it’s Darla and her dad, with her siblings, Sally and Beau – singing at Glen Burtnik’s 2007 Xmas Xtravaganza – Count Basie Theater, Red bank, N.J. !!
watch: GLEN BURTNIK & THE BURTNIX !! at Count Basie Theater !!
POSTED BY NANCY SMITH – WED JUNE 9, 2010 3:47 PM
~DARLA ROSE !! |
Posted in The Bomb | By Nancy Smith | June 9th, 2010, 3:47pm
